@article{ref1,
title="Twenty-three years (1993-2015) of homicide trends in the Transkei region of South Africa",
journal="Medicine, science, and the law",
year="2018",
author="Banwari, Meel",
volume="58",
number="1",
pages="47-54",
abstract="Background Transkei is regarded as a rural part of South Africa. It was one of the black homelands where rigorous apartheid was practised. The incidence of firearm-related deaths used to be very high, but after the implementation of the Firearm Control Act in 2002, the trend changed. However, the murder rate is still a major public-health problem in this region of South Africa. <br><br>OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate 23 years (1993-2015) of homicide trends in the Transkei region of South Africa. <br><br>METHOD A review of records of medico-legal autopsies performed at Mthatha Forensic Pathology Laboratory from 1993 to 2015 was undertaken. <br><br>RESULTS Between 1993 and 2015, the number of autopsies performed on people who had died unnatural deaths was 24,693. The records of 12,618 (51%) autopsies on victims of homicide between 1993 and 2015 were available for study. The average rate of murder was 85/100,000 of the population in this region. Of these deaths, on average 34/100,000 were caused by sharp-edged instruments, 30/100,000 by gunshot wounds and 21/100,000 by blunt trauma. The rate of murder of males was significantly higher than that of females, with a ratio of 5.7:1, and over the period of 23 years covered by this study, the incidence was highest (30.5/100,000) in the young age group between 21 and 30 years. <br><br>CONCLUSION The rate of homicide is very high in the Transkei region of South Africa. It needs urgent intervention to curb unnecessary deaths.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0025-8024",
doi="10.1177/0025802417748098",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802417748098"
}